1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to business forms having die cut label areas which are removable therefrom and to a method for producing the same.
More particularly, the invention pertains to a business form which includes an imprinted paper substrate having label stock affixed thereto, the label stock including a layer of face stock permanently adhesively secured to the back of the substrate and a liner layer adhesively secured to the back of the face stock layer such when the liner layer is peeled off of the face stock layer, a layer of adhesive remains affixed to the back of the face stock layer.
In a further respect, the invention pertains to a business form of the type described which includes a multilayer removable die cut area which extends through the paper substrate and the face stock layer such that the die cut area can be peeled off of the liner layer and removed from the business form.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As described in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,573, providing business forms with removable labels is a widespread practice. Such labels are often imprinted with information which, when combined with the ability to transfer the label, facilitates the completion of a particular business transaction. For instance, a label may be imprinted with the name and address of the company from which the business form originated so that a customer can remove the label from the form and then attach the label to an envelope containing an order being forwarded to the company. Likewise, the label may be imprinted with information identifying the customer so that when the label is attached to an order form processing of the order by the company is expedited.
These so-called "transfer labels" are actually comprised of two layers of material. The first or lower layer has a pressure sensitive adhesive on its bottom surface and an adhesive on its upper surface which detachably secures the second layer--a paper label--thereto. Transfer labels are normally applied to business forms by feeding the forms into a label air machine which blows the transfer labels from a strip of carrier material toward the forms so that the pressure sensitive adhesive on the bottom surface of each label contacts and adheres to one of the forms.
In many paper manufacturing operations, such as the printing and assembly of business forms, it is common practice to carry out the operation in a series of repetitive steps at spaced points along a continuously moving strip of paper and to then cut the continuous strip into the size required to form the pages of the business form. In particular, multi-part business forms are printed and collated in such a fashion and the collated continuous strips of paper are cut into the desired size after the final assembly thereof.
In this regard, the principal disadvantage of the conventional label air machine described above is that, in order to apply the transfer labels, business forms cannot be continuously passed through the machine but must essentially be indexed through the machine one at a time. The usual practice for applying transfer labels to a continuous strip of business forms is to fold the strip in zig-zag fashion along transverse lines of weakening formed in the paper and to then feed the stack of folded paper into the label air machine. Operation of the label air machine requires that each individual form in the stack of folded paper be indexed through the label air machine; i.e., the paper does not continuously move as it passes through the machine, rather, one segment of paper is pulled into the machine, the movement of paper momentarily stops while a label is applied, and then another segment of paper is indexed into the machine. It has become a common industry practice to feed stacks of folded paper into the machine instead of pulling the paper from a roll thereof because the first sheet in a stack can be glued or attached to the final sheet of the stack of paper being fed into the machine. This permits the label air machine to be run continuously. If paper was fed into the machine from a roll, the machine would have to be shut down when the end of a roll was reached so that the core of the old roll could be removed and a new roll installed on the machine.
A further limitation of the label air machine is that the machine is unable to accurately apply labels in the same position on identical business forms. The comparative position of labels blown onto identical business forms by the machine will often vary by about 1/16 of an inch. The variance in the positioning of labels precludes imprinting the entire surface of the label and, as a consequence, the material to be printed thereon will normally occupy an area substantially less than the surface area of the label to compensate for variance in label position. The inability of the label air machine to consistently place a label in the same position on identical business forms results in a substantial amount of unused and wasted label material.
The conventional label air machine is further limited in operation in that when a plurality of transfer labels or strips are attached side by side to a paper substrate, there must be a minimum distance of approximately two inches between any two labels. This particular limitation rules out the application of a pair of closely spaced labels to a paper substrate.
The printing of business forms is commonly carried out by feeding continuous strips of business forms through high-speed presses at the rate of thousands of copies per hour. Prior to the improved process described and claimed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,573, a like process which permitted both the imprinting of a paper substrate and formation of a removable label on the substrate is a "one-pass" continuous high speed operation apparently had not been utilized. Instead, the conventional process comprised imprinting a continuous strip of paper substrate, folding the strip, running a stack of folded paper through a label air machine to attach the labels, refolding or rolling the continuous strip of labeled paper leaving the label air machine, and then collating, cutting or further imprinting the continuous strips as desired. This conventional process obviously entails repeated manual handling of the paper and the increased production costs associated therewith.
Even assuming that a conventional label air machine were able to be employed in an automated process, three to five percent of the business forms processed by the machine would not be usable because the applied labels would be bent, would be damaged, or would have failed to adhere to the paper when blown on. In addition, the bi-layered transfer labels employed generally have an average thickness of seven to eight thousandths of an inch. When large numbers of label forms are stacked, the resulting buildup of label thickness can, especially when a single label is applied to each form, cause the paper stack to list, making handling and storage of the paper awkward.
The prior art transfer tape--die cut label process and business form described in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,573 was developed to overcome some of the above-described problems associated with the conventional label air machine. This transfer tape--die cut label process permits a continuously moving paper substrate to be imprinted and provided with a removable label during a single pass through paper processing equipment. During the transfer tape--die cut process, the contact adhesive on a piece of transfer tape is pressed against the back of a business form to secure the tape to the form. A die cut label area is then made in the form above the transfer tape. The die cut label can be peeled off of the form. When the die cut label is peeled off of the form, the adhesive on the transfer tape "transfers" from the transfer tape to the back of the label so that the label can be adhered to an envelope or other desired surface. The transfer tape--die cut label process described and claimed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,573 is advantageous because it permits a continuously moving paper substrate to be imprinted and provided with a removable label during a single pass through paper processing equipment, because it can add only a small amount of additional thickness to a business form so that the build-up of label thickness is minimized when forms having the transfer tape are processed, and because the process minimizes the number of defective and unusable business forms after paper substrates have been imprinted and provided with transfer tape and removable die cut label areas.
The transfer tape--die cut process does, however, have certain disadvantages. First, the cost of transfer tape is relatively expensive, about fifty cents per one thousand square inches. Second, the use of transfer tape inherently limits the type of adhesives which can be utilized because the tape requires adhesives which will separate from the tape and "transfer" to a second surface which is pressed against the adhesive. Third, the selection of transfer tape is limited. Only certain sizes of transfer tape are available. Fourth, transfer tape is difficult to use on business form substrates which are thin. Even though the adhesive from transfer tape which sticks to the back of a die cut business form label tends to "thicken" the label, light weight paper simply does not make particularly good labels because light weight paper readily tears and wrinkles.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide an improved removable label business form which would incorporate the advantages of the transfer tape--die cut process while significantly reducing cost, while permitting the use of a wide variety of adhesives, while providing a wide selection of materials which can be used in combination with a business form to produce a removable label, and while enabling light weight business forms to be provided with removable labels.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an improved business form having a label or labels removable therefrom.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method for imprinting and providing a removable label for a business form which allows a continuously moving paper substrate to be imprinted and provided with a removable label during a single pass through paper processing equipment.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method for providing a paper sheet substrate with a removable label which reduces cost, which permits the use of a wide variety of adhesives, which enables a wide selection of convention, off-the-shelf, readily available materials to be used in combination with a business form to produce a removable label, and which enables business forms made from light weight paper to be provided with removable labels.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a method for imprinting and providing a paper sheet substrate with a removable label which results in a minimal number of defective and unusable business forms after the substrate has been imprinted and provided with removable label areas.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method for producing business forms which permits a removable label to be accurately placed in an identical position on each of a plurality of forms.